


The Understudy

by Buglii



Category: Hello Puppets (Video Game)
Genre: Fan Characters, Hello Puppets - Freeform, Horror, Horror Fantasy, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buglii/pseuds/Buglii
Summary: Jason Mattar always did have a bad habit of poking his nose into other people's business. Though the things he finds in Sophie's apartment when he was asked to help lock up might unveil more than he ever wanted to know about the Handeemen HQ behind the scenes...
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [This is a spin-off to my main fic "Agony Pilar" taking place sometime shortly after the events of chapter 7. This focuses on Jason's point of view, so for context, it's recommended you read the main fic "Agony Pilar" before reading any chapters for "The Understudy"]

It wasn't a good idea to take Mae along, but he needed to multitask the situation he found himself stuck in.

Every so often Jason would look into the rearview mirror while driving, checking on how Mae was doing. She was surprisingly eager to tag along, although it was probably because she got to stay up later on a school night. He would probably get quite the lecture from his fiancè when she found out, but he always felt compelled to help the good people in his life.   
  
  
  
Sophie Sellick was no exception, even if they did just get reacquainted with each other today.

It still baffled him how someone who had such an exciting childhood would end up in such a tragic state. The trauma over the fire was one thing, but he didn't know if that was really enough to cause her to completely shut herself off from the outside world. Sophie may have been able to avoid talking about herself much, but the things she said regarding Owen felt like something happened involving him.

"So the friend you went to see today was part of the show too right?" Mae called out from the back, curious about Jason's day. 

His eyes glance up towards the mirror. "Actually, her episode never got made, she was supposed to be part of this tv special that never got finished due to the fir-" Jason stopped before he finished pronouncing the word that could lead them into a dark discussion-

"The fire?"

Damn, guess he didn't stop himself fast enough.

"Y-Yeah. There was a fire…" Jason exhaled. He really wanted to wait until she was older to tell her this story, especially since she introduced her to the show so recently. "We don't have to go too much into that day though…"

"Did anyone die?"

'Jesus, this kid…' he thought to himself as he was taken aback over her blunt question. He couldn’t just tell her eight people died. "Ah...some people were hurt...I don’t think anyone died…”

Thinking over his words, he remembered when he heard about that day on the news. The fire started in the left wing's puppet workshop and was assumed to have been caused by an unchecked fire hazard. Supposedly an afterparty was taking place, but only Sophie and seven other crew members managed to escape the blaze.

Owen Gubberson, along with the remaining crew, never made it out. They were reported dead, although no bodies were ever found. 

As Jason parked outside the familiar apartment, he contemplated if it would be safer to leave Mae in the car. Then he remembered where he was; one of the most infamous neighborhoods where most of the recent kidnappings had taken place. Either choice felt like a risk, but he could at least keep Mae safe with him.

After getting Mae out of the car, the two were able to get in the rundown complex without much concern. With how paranoid Sophie seemed as a person, he wondered how living in such a miserable condition made anything better. Considering the work she was previously in, she could have chosen one of the quiet neighborhoods outside of the city, yet...she chose here.

"I thought movie stars lived in mansions?" Mae questioned innocently.

“Well...she was more a local movie star than anything.” Jason recalled, “She was involved with the film community we had here, though most of the films she worked on were not massive blockbusters.”

Mae thought for a moment, then looked back at him; "So...do local movie stars live here then?"

"...No, just her I think."

Getting off the elevator, Jason took Mae's hand as they walked through the hallway. Despite the poor lighting, it wouldn't take them long to spot a lone door left open. One of the numbers on the door was missing, but the imprint it left matched her address.   
  
All he needed to do was to turn the lock on the other side of the door, close it, and then they could leave; he could do this no problem! He wasn’t a kid anymore, after all, he kicked the habit of exploring places he shouldn’t years ago! That incident earlier that day was just him and Sophie going sightseeing, and he had no interest at all to snoop around in her-   
  
“Hey, Jason?”   
  
Jason turned to the girl who would soon be his daughter, his concentration derailed for a moment. “Yes, sweetie?”   
  
“Do...do local movie stars also have bathrooms?”   
  
  
...Oh, well this was just unfair.

"Didn’t you go before we left." Jason winced.    
  
He watched Mae shuffle in place uncomfortably. “I didn’t have to at the time, but now I gotta…”   
  
Jason’s fingers drummed the doorknob in hesitation, his mind coming to a blank for a better option. He opened the door and scanned the apartment, finding two small rooms on each side. Only one door was open, but it looked like it lead into a bedroom.    
  
Jason guides Mae through the cramped living space and towards the closed door. After peeking inside, he opened the bathroom door for his daughter-in-law. “Alright, you need to be quick okay? We’re not supposed to be in here.”   
  
She nodded and silently closed the door behind her. With that problem behind him, Jason was finally able to focus on his surroundings. For how unkempt the place appeared, it wasn’t half as bad as he was expecting it to be. Despite the pile of procrastinated dishes scattered here and there, and the horde of blankets on the couch, Sophie's home life didn't seem too affected by the major depression she seemed to be going through…

As he resisted the urge to look through the strange box on the coffee table, the faint hum of the VCR next to him caught his attention. When he faced and examined the whirring machine, Jason saw from the digital screen that a tape was still playing inside. Turning on the TV and turning down the volume, he found what...almost looked similar to the end credits of Mortimer's Handeemen.

Credits rolled over a drawn headshot of the dandy puppet, but the style was different from what he remembered. Instead of his three accomplices and their loveable dog lined on the far corners, the images of unfamiliar characters had replaced them. A rabbit, an elderly looking mouse, a crystal looking ball with an eye in the center and a little girl with a white bow tie and...red hair…

"Wait a minute..."

Jason's thumb pressed on the VCR's rewind button, his eyes scanned the back scrolling credits and pausing at the cast list. Sure enough, over the list of puppeteers was a single live role;

_ "Claire VoyAnnie …. Sophie Sellick" _

Jason's eyebrows raised as he cracked a smirk, "Wow, holy f-"

"Does she watch Mortimer's Handeemen too?"

Startled, he turns rapidly to find Mae standing behind him, unphased that she almost gave him a heart attack. "What episode was that?" She asked nonchalantly.

Jason's mouth stayed open as his eyes darted around. "I...I actually don't know. I was just about to find that out myself." His fingers reached over to press the eject button before Mae interjected;

" _Are you sure that's okay?_ Mom says you have to ask permission before going through people's stuff…"

Her mother was absolutely correct, but Jason's curiosity already had the better of him. "We're just taking a quick peek at the title sweetie. I'm sure she won't mind." He looked back at the VCR and pulled out the ejected tape, getting ready to figure out the name.

"Then we can try and find a copy at the video sto-"

Jason froze as his face went blank.

The label was...not in English. It was in a language that Jason had not seen since he and Sophie broke into Owen's office that fateful day. The symbols, albeit familiar, were still a harrowing enigma that he had yet to solve to this day.

"So what's it called?" Mae asked.

Before Jason could give an answer, a loud noise came from the bedroom. The little girl cried out in shock and went to hide behind him. "I don't want to be here anymore…" She whispered, "This place is freaky...and it smells like the music teacher's office."

Jason's first thoughts were to just leave with Mae right then and there, but then he remembered why they were here in the first place. Someone could be in there, and he wanted to try getting them out for Sophie's sake. He motioned for Mae to stay where she was, placing the tape on the couch and picking up a wooden bat nearby.

Opening the door, his free hand searched for the light switch. As he flicked the switch, he was only provided with what looked like the fluorescent bulbs on their last legs. It was hard to make out anything in the room, but from the other side of the bed he could almost make out hair…

Jason turned back to Mae, speaking quietly;  _ "Everything is going to be okay sweetie...it's just Sophie's closet monster. I'm gonna go chase him back into hiding." _ This was a lie, but he knew Mae would panic if she caught wind of something seriously threatening.

_ "It's just going to be like yours," _ Jason assured,  _ "Just stay here and stay quiet." _

Mae whispered back with an encouraging smile;

_ "Bash his brains in!" _

It was shit like this that really made Jason wish his fiancè would consider taking Mae to get counseling. 

Shaking himself back to reality, he crept inside to investigate. With slow and soft footsteps, Jason raised the bat, ready to take on whatever intruder that could be in her. As he reached the edge, his hands gripped tightly around the handle.

Then, out of nowhere, the room got brighter.

Temporarily blinded by the lights that finally decided to work again, he rubbed at his eyes and readjusted his glasses to find a horrible...

...blonde wig.

On top of an equally awful pile of junk.

Jason released a huge sigh of relief. Thank God, he really didn't want to hurt anyone, even if they were intruders. There was also no way he would be able to explain to Mae in a way she would understand. 

He quietly scanned the room around him...with his sight immediately taken by the wall next to the closet.

Pictures; several crumpled, water-stained, and hastily drawn images were plastered over her bed. The subjects all looked the same; a girl being brutally harmed by claw-like hands and long gnashing teeth. Some had her being ripped to shreds, some had her stitched back together abnormally with those familiar symbols over her skin and stuck with a permanent smile…

All of them had the girl in purely expressed agony.

His eyes scanned each picture with unease, reaching towards what looked like a recent addition. It was one of the few where the girl was unharmed, but she looked to be curled onto the floor. Her hands clutching her head, screaming as a pair of teeth loomed over her laughing.

Her words were scrawled harshly;

**_  
"LEAVE ME ALONE GODDAMMIT!!!"_ **

  
He didn't know why, but there was something familiar about those hands and teeth…

From outside, he suddenly heard Mae's voice. He couldn't make out what she said, so he turned back to call her.

"What's that sweetie? Dad couldn't hear y-"

He was interrupted by the muffled sound of another voice talking. As he paused to listen, it became all too clear what had happened;

Someone had found them.  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. The Friendly Stranger

"Mom says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

Jason quickly stepped out of the bedroom, greeted by the sight of Mae sticking her head through the crack in the door. Despite her statement, she clearly wasn't taking her mother's advice to heart. Now in the living room, he could hear their unexpected visitor more clearly;

"Your mom sounds like a really smart lady. Tickle knows a really smart lady too who said the same thing!"

...What the hell was that voice supposed to be? It sounded like someone forced a twenty-year-old choir boy to swallow a tank of helium. They were too old to be a child, but they were certainly speaking like one. 

"Mae?"

The young girl turned to Jason as he rushed to the door and slammed it shut. His hands fumbled with the chain latch as he keeps his body pressed against the door. 

"Why did you answer the door?" He whispered to Mae. "Who's even out there?"

"A guy with a clown on his arm," Mae replied nonchalantly.

" _...a what _ ?"

Mae just shrugged, looking just as confused as Jason. "I don't know, it looked like a clown...sorta. It had really dumb-looking eyes-"

Before the young girl could finish, their visitor knocking loudly on the door and rattling the doorknob;

"Hello? Girl? Tickle still needs to come in for a bit?"

This was exactly the kind of person Jason was worried about. After the knocking stopped for a moment, Jason peered through the spyhole. His eyes had trouble focusing as he squinted through his glasses and the tiny lens beyond them.

He forgot the lighting in the hall was garbage; he could barely make out the silhouette of their unwanted company standing in the middle of the hallway. It was hard to make out his face, but the way his head limped to the side wasn't making things easier. As his eyes finally adjusted, he noticed why he was having trouble.

The man was wearing black; All black. He even wore what looked like a garbage bag over his head. The only article that had any color was the neck-tie around his neck...

Wait...no. That looked more like rope-

"HELLO!"

The blur of color and pitchy cry made Jason eject himself from the door and topple onto the couch. Mae yelped as the door tried to open, but the chain latch held strong.

"Tickle thinks something is wrong with the door, hold on."

Squeezing from the crack in the door was the clown Mae had mentioned. It was...a hand 'puppet', and a poorly made one at that. His pupils were googly eyes, his hair was made from a cheap clown wig, and the sequins on his face looked like multicolored acne.

The puppet intended to undo the latch, but was immediately distracted by the adult;

"Oh hi there! I didn't know there were two of you!" The clown chimed innocently, "My name is Tickle!"

"Y-Yeah...I heard…" Jason muttered, before shaking his head and coming back to his senses, "Wait no, get your hand out of the door!"

The stranger on the other side must have had an insane amount of practice because the clown proceeded to raise and examine his own arm without the use of rods. They shrugged at Jason's demands and continued to talk through the puppet.

"Tickle is looking for a little girl named Claire!" He reported, "I thought it was this little girl, but she said her name is Mae. Are you Claire's Dad?"

Mae gave a glance to her step-dad which told him she wasn't scared, just greatly confused. Jason, on the other hand, was very much the opposite; they were stuck in a shitty apartment and exposed to what could be a possible lunatic on the other side of the door.

Jason cleared his throat and spoke sternly, "There is no girl by that name here. I think you have the wrong room sir and you should leave." 

"But, but Tickle can't leave yet!" The clown stuttered. "Tickle is supposed to make sure a little girl named Claire got her package!"

The puppet surveys the room with his special eyes, they rattle as his head bobs around and then locks eyes at the box on the coffee table.

"Look! Tickle sees the box we sent her! She did get it! Yaaaay!"

Wait, how was this guy able to see in the room? The door wasn't open enough for the stranger on the other side to see inside so how the fuck…

Just then it hit Jason; that box was meant for Claire, but it was in Sophie's apartment. Were they talking about Sophie? Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered the credits he had just seen on that strange tape. Just what the fuck was going on anymore?

"Oh...I guess this is the right house, but she's not here right now." Jason said. "So uh, mission accomplished right? You can go home now?"

"Mission accomplished!" Tickle cheered as he started to squeeze back through the door, but then came back. "Oh wait no! Tickle to pick up something important from Claire!"

Jason's patience was growing thin over the weirdo; "Look whatever it is, you need to get it la-"

"A tape!"

Jason froze, letting the creep finish talking. "The tape is called "Mortimer's Magic Mansion Pilot", and apparently Claire has it! My best friend says he really needs that tape so he can finish a thing!"

"...A thing?" Jason's voice trailed off.

"With Claire!" Tickle replied happily.

This situation was getting sketchier by the minute. Was the tape this freak was looking for the one currently wedged between his back and the couch? By the sound of things, Sophie might have earned herself a deranged stalker. 

As badly as he wanted to give the tape to this freak and leave safely with Mae, something in his gut told him to keep it safe. At least to examine and understand the mess that Sophie had got herself into.

As his fingers drum against the couch nervously, he comes up with a game plan…

"We could...look for that tape for you." Jason offers, "We'd let you in, but there is not enough room so you'll have to wait outside."

Mae stared at Jason dumbfoundedly, but it seemed their unwanted guest was more than happy to believe Jason's lie.

"Oh yeah! Tickle wasn't really invited inside was he? Okay then, Tickle will wait outside for you!"

The puppet finally slipped back into the hallway, closing the door on it's way out. As Jason grabbed the video cassette from underneath him, he got up and walked swiftly over to Mae.

Handing her the tape, Jason whispers his instructions. "I need you to hide this tape behind your back and stay behind me. Stay quiet and stay out of this guy's line of sight until we've reached the elevator."

Mae appeared apprehensive as her eyes switched focus between Jason and the tape. "Isn't that ...stealing?"

"We aren't stealing anything, but I'm pretty sure the guy outside is trying to," Jason assured her. "We're just going to hold on to this until I can meet up with Sophie again, then I'm going to give it back to her. Okay?"

Mae didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway. He watched her tuck the tape into her jacket and give him a small smile to say she was ready to go. Jason smiled back before unlocking the latch and opening the door.

Jason froze as he met eyes with a poorly drawn face on a paper plate mask

The two were left silent over the visitor; he was...abnormally jacked. Jason could already tell he wouldn't be able to overpower him if it came down to defending Mae and himself. It made him wonder what was stopping him from breaking in with full force.

The masked man lifted his left arm, greeting them with the same crappy puppet from before…

"So didn't find it?" The man said through his puppet in that ear grating voice of his.

Jason gave an exaggerated shrug as he feigned confidence. "Yeah, sorry. We didn't find the tape you're describing." His arm guided Mae out into the hall as he shielded her with his body and locked the apartment door. "Guess she must have taken it with her…"

The two began to back away quickly, but the masked man followed with his puppet arm extended and locking its googly-eyed sight on Jason. "A-Are you sure? Did you check the box? "

"Yes, I checked the-" 

"Tickle doesn't think you understand how important this is Mister." For someone so large and intimidating, the voice he gave his puppet sounded nervous and desperate. "My best friend is in a lot of trouble and really needs that tape!"

Jason was starting to lose his patience with the immature act, it was almost enough to forget how dangerous he could possibly be. "Well, I don't know what else to tell you!" Jason barked back. "We didn't see any damn-"

_ Cl-Clnnk! _

Jason felt his heart stop. His eyes bolted over to Mae and the tape that had hit the floor.

_ "I-I dropped it…" _ Mae whispered, picking the tape back up.  _ "I'm sorry." _

"Wait…" the puppet began to move past Jason and reach down towards Mae. "THAT'S THE TAPE-"

With as much strength as he could muster, Jason pushed the stranger away from Mae, which surprisingly knocked them down. He scooped up Mae and began to bolt down the hall, there was no way they could wait for the elevator, so he prayed that the stairwell was open at the end of the hall.

"MISTER WAIT! THAT TAPE!" Jason didn't look back but knew that puppet wielding freak was already back on his feet. "TICKLE REALLY NEEDS THAT TAPE!"

Jason bodies the door to the stairwell and leaps down the stairs two to three steps at a time. He thanked God that Sophie lived on the third floor because there was no way his ankles would be able to survive anything more. 

By the time they reached the first floor, he could already hear their pursuer just now making it to the stairwell. "MISTER COME BACK!" The voice echoed from above. "TICKLE DOESN'T WANT TO GET IN TROUBLE!"

Sprinting out of the lobby, they manage to get back to the car. Jason opens the passenger's side and swiftly buckles in Mae. "Are we going to be in a lot of trouble for this?" Mae asked, holding back the urge to break down. Before Jason could comfort her, he hears the door to the apartment burst open.

"TICKLE NEEDS THAT TAPE!"

Jason slams the door and rushes to the drivers’ seat. Forcing the key into the ignition, he peels out of the lot and starts driving away. From the rearview mirror, he sees the masked man trying to chase after them, the puppet trying to wave them down until a familiar white van pulls up next to them.

"Oh shit…" Jason rasped under his breath. "So that's who was following us…"

  
Putting pedal to the metal, Jason drives out of the sketchy neighborhood and onto the main road. It was going to take a lot more than a few detours to lose the white van this time.


End file.
